Saturday, May 29, 2010

The rector of St. Paul's Memorial, Charlottesville writes of his appointment by Bishop Shannon Johnston to the R-14 Task Force (which reminds me so much of the R-7 Task Force, also in the Diocese of Virginia, which actually met for regularly for SEVEN years and discovered that the two worldviews are incompatible and that group dissolved without consensus) which has once again been charged with examining the issues surrounding same sex blessings, this time - as articulated by the Rev'd James Richardson - with the expectation that the diocese will move forward toward implementation of the now authorized views of General Convention. One does wonder, however, how much the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent letter will influence R-14 and the people of the Diocese of Virginia?

Bishop Shannon Johnston, of the Diocese of Virginia, has appointed me to a task force of 11 people -- six lay and five ordained -- who will soon examine the issues surrounding same-sex blessings and, hopefully, chart the way forward for this diocese in the next year. That is my hope.

The panel was commissioned at the Diocesan Council (convention) in January, and has adopted for its name the neutral-sounding title of the resolution that set it up -- "The R-14 Task Force." The bishop finished appointing the members in May. The first meeting is set for June 19, followed by another meeting July 17.

I will not be present at the first meeting, but I plan to attend via Skype or telephone connection. I will keep you posted in this space as fully as I can on how this develops. The deadline for the completion of our work is November 1, and I see no reason why we cannot meet the deadline. Other dioceses have impaneled similar task forces and are already finished; much of the research we've been asked to do has been done elsewhere; the Diocese of Virginia has a considerable volume of work of its own to draw upon, having had several committees and task forces looking at various sides of the topic for years.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, calls for provinces formally breaking the moratoria requested by the Instruments of Communion to no longer officially represent the Anglican Communion in ecumenical affairs (such as on the IASCUFO - you can read their communique here, which was released prior to Glasspool's consecration when the Episcopal Church was requested to stand down from it's intention to make her a bishop). This will particularly affect The Episcopal Church, which formally did break the moratoria at the Los Angeles consecration of Mary Glasspool, officiated by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Make no mistake about it, Rowan Williams timing in releasing his call now follows in the wake of the Glasspool consecration two weeks ago.

Dr. Williams writes, ""Although attitudes to human sexuality have been the presenting cause, I want to underline the fact that what has precipitated the current problem is not simply this issue but the widespread bewilderment and often hurt in different quarters that we have no way of making decisions together so that we are not compromised or undermined by what others are doing. We have not, in other words, found a way of shaping our consciences and convictions as a worldwide body."

Here is another excerpt from his official Pentecost letter, where he outlines the first consequences:

We began by thinking about Pentecost and the diverse peoples of the earth finding a common voice, recognising that each was speaking a truth recognised by all. However, when some part of that fellowship speaks in ways that others find hard to recognise, and that point in a significantly different direction from what others are saying, we cannot pretend there is no problem.

And when a province through its formal decision-making bodies or its House of Bishops as a body declines to accept requests or advice from the consultative organs of the Communion, it is very hard (as noted in my letter to the Communion last year after the General Convention of TEC) to see how members of that province can be placed in positions where they are required to represent the Communion as a whole. This affects both our ecumenical dialogues, where our partners (as they often say to us) need to know who it is they are talking to, and our internal faith-and-order related groups.

I am therefore proposing that, while these tensions remain unresolved, members of such provinces – provinces that have formally, through their Synod or House of Bishops, adopted policies that breach any of the moratoria requested by the Instruments of Communion and recently reaffirmed by the Standing Committee and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) – should not be participants in the ecumenical dialogues in which the Communion is formally engaged. I am further proposing that members of such provinces serving on IASCUFO should for the time being have the status only of consultants rather than full members. This is simply to confirm what the Communion as a whole has come to regard as the acceptable limits of diversity in its practice. It does not alter what has been said earlier by the Primates’ Meeting about the nature of the moratoria: the request for restraint does not necessarily imply that the issues involved are of equal weight but recognises that they are ‘central factors placing strains on our common life’, in the words of the Primates in 2007. Particular provinces will be contacted about the outworking of this in the near future.

BB NOTE: We can see some movement toward working within the communion structures at the last Global South meeting in Singapore when the leaders of the ACNA and the leaders of the Communion Partners came together to speak to the gathering. Efforts are underway to continue to build bridges between the ACNA and the Communion Partners, both formally and informally, as well with the Church of England which, in an extraordinary action in February recognized the ACNA's desire to remain Anglican at the Church of England Synod. Other efforts are underway as well which have not yet been made public. It will be interesting to watch if The Episcopal Church will change course as well and stand down from it's formal insistence to break the moratoria established in the Windsor Report.

Here is the letter in full:

Renewal in the Spirit

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Pentecost Letter

to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion

1.

‘They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak’ (Acts 2.4). At Pentecost, we celebrate the gift God gives us of being able to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ in the various languages of the whole human world. The Gospel is not the property of any one group, any one culture or history, but is what God intends for the salvation of all who will listen and respond.

St Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is also what God gives us so that we can call God ‘Abba, Father’ (Rom. 8.15, Gal. 4.6). The Spirit is given not only so that we can speak to the world about God but so that we can speak to God in the words of his own beloved Son. The Good News we share is not just a story about Jesus but the possibility of living in and through the life of Jesus and praying his prayer to the Father.

And so the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of ‘communion’ or fellowship (II Cor. 13.13). The Spirit allows us to recognise each other as part of the Body of Christ because we can hear in each other the voice of Jesus praying to the Father. We know, in the Spirit, that we who are baptised into Jesus Christ share one life; so that all the diversity of gifting and service in the Church can be seen as the work of one Spirit (I Cor. 12.4). In the Holy Eucharist, this unity in and through the self-offering of Jesus is reaffirmed and renewed as we pray for the Spirit to transform both the bread and wine and ‘ourselves, our souls and bodies’.

When the Church is living by the Spirit, what the world will see is a community of people who joyfully and gratefully hear the prayer of Jesus being offered in each other’s words and lives, and are able to recognise the one Christ working through human diversity. And if the world sees this, the Church is a true sign of hope in a world of bitter conflict and rivalry.

2.

From the very first, as the New Testament makes plain, the Church has experienced division and internal hostilities. From the very first, the Church has had to repent of its failure to live fully in the light and truth of the Spirit. Jesus tells us in St John’s gospel that the Spirit of truth will ‘prove the world wrong’ in respect of sin and righteousness and judgement (Jn 16.8). But if the Spirit is leading us all further into the truth, the Spirit will convict the Church too of its wrongness and lead it into repentance. And if the Church is a community where we serve each other in the name of Christ, it is a community where we can and should call each other to repentance in the name of Christ and his Spirit – not to make the other feel inferior (because we all need to be called to repentance) but to remind them of the glory of Christ’s gift and the promise that we lose sight of when we fail in our common life as a Church.

Our Anglican fellowship continues to experience painful division, and the events of recent months have not brought us nearer to full reconciliation. There are still things being done that the representative bodies of the Communion have repeatedly pleaded should not be done; and this leads to recrimination, confusion and bitterness all round. It is clear that the official bodies of The Episcopal Church have felt in conscience that they cannot go along with what has been asked of them by others, and the consecration of Canon Mary Glasspool on May 15 has been a clear sign of this. And despite attempts to clarify the situation, activity across provincial boundaries still continues – equally dictated by what people have felt they must in conscience do. Some provinces have within them dioceses that are committed to policies that neither the province as a whole nor the Communion has sanctioned. In several places, not only in North America, Anglicans have not hesitated to involve the law courts in settling disputes, often at great expense and at the cost of the Church’s good name.

All are agreed that the disputes arising around these matters threaten to distract us from our main calling as Christ’s Church. The recent Global South encounter in Singapore articulated a strong and welcome plea for the priority of mission in the Communion; and in my own message to that meeting I prayed for a ‘new Pentecost’ for all of us. This is a good season of the year to pray earnestly for renewal in the Spirit, so that we may indeed do what God asks of us and let all people know that new and forgiven life in Christ is possible and that created men and women may by the Spirit’s power be given the amazing liberty to call God ‘Abba, Father!’

It is my own passionate hope that our discussion of the Anglican Covenant in its entirety will help us focus on that priority; the Covenant is nothing if not a tool for mission. I want to stress yet again that the Covenant is not envisaged as an instrument of control. And this is perhaps a good place to clarify that the place given in the final text to the Standing Committee of the Communion introduces no novelty: the Committee is identical to the former Joint Standing Committee, fully answerable in all matters to the ACC and the Primates; nor is there any intention to prevent the Primates in the group from meeting separately. The reference to the Standing Committee reflected widespread unease about leaving certain processes only to the ACC or only to the Primates.

But we are constantly reminded that the priorities of mission are experienced differently in different places, and that trying to communicate the Gospel in the diverse tongues of human beings can itself lead to misunderstandings and failures of communication between Christians. The sobering truth is that often our attempts to share the Gospel effectively in our own setting can create problems for those in other settings.

3.

We are at a point in our common life where broken communications and fragile relationships have created a very mistrustful climate. This is not news. But many have a sense that the current risks are greater than ever. Although attitudes to human sexuality have been the presenting cause, I want to underline the fact that what has precipitated the current problem is not simply this issue but the widespread bewilderment and often hurt in different quarters that we have no way of making decisions together so that we are not compromised or undermined by what others are doing. We have not, in other words, found a way of shaping our consciences and convictions as a worldwide body. We have not fully received the Pentecostal gift of mutual understanding for common mission.

It may be said – quite understandably, in one way – that our societies and their assumptions are so diverse that we shall never be able to do this. Yet we are called to seek for mutual harmony and common purpose, and not to lose heart. If the truth of Christ is indeed ultimately one as we all believe, there should be a path of mutual respect and thankfulness that will hold us in union and help us grow in that truth.

Yet at the moment we face a dilemma. To maintain outward unity at a formal level while we are convinced that the divisions are not only deep but damaging to our local mission is not a good thing. Neither is it a good thing to break away from each other so dramatically that we no longer see Christ in each other and risk trying to create a church of the ‘perfect’ – people like us. It is significant that there are still very many in The Episcopal Church, bishops, clergy and faithful, who want to be aligned with the Communion’s general commitments and directions, such as those who identify as ‘Communion Partners’, who disagree strongly with recent decisions, yet want to remain in visible fellowship within TEC so far as they can. And, as has often been pointed out, there are things that Anglicans across the world need and want to do together for the care of God’s poor and vulnerable that can and do go on even when division over doctrine or discipline is sharp.

4.

More and more, Anglicans are aware of living through a time of substantial transition, a time when the structures that have served us need reviewing and refreshing, perhaps radical changing, when the voice and witness in the Communion of Christians from the developing world is more articulate and creative than ever, and when the rapidity of social change in ‘developed’ nations leaves even some of the most faithful and traditional Christian communities uncertain where to draw the boundaries in controversial matters – not only sexuality but issues of bioethics, for example, or the complexities of morality in the financial world.

A time of transition, by definition, does not allow quick solutions to such questions, and it is a time when, ideally, we need more than ever to stay in conversation. As I have said many times before, whatever happens to our structures, we still need to preserve both working relationships and places for exchange and discussion. New vehicles for conversations across these boundaries are being developed with much energy.

But some decisions cannot be avoided. We began by thinking about Pentecost and the diverse peoples of the earth finding a common voice, recognising that each was speaking a truth recognised by all. However, when some part of that fellowship speaks in ways that others find hard to recognise, and that point in a significantly different direction from what others are saying, we cannot pretend there is no problem.

And when a province through its formal decision-making bodies or its House of Bishops as a body declines to accept requests or advice from the consultative organs of the Communion, it is very hard (as noted in my letter to the Communion last year after the General Convention of TEC) to see how members of that province can be placed in positions where they are required to represent the Communion as a whole. This affects both our ecumenical dialogues, where our partners (as they often say to us) need to know who it is they are talking to, and our internal faith-and-order related groups.

I am therefore proposing that, while these tensions remain unresolved, members of such provinces – provinces that have formally, through their Synod or House of Bishops, adopted policies that breach any of the moratoria requested by the Instruments of Communion and recently reaffirmed by the Standing Committee and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) – should not be participants in the ecumenical dialogues in which the Communion is formally engaged. I am further proposing that members of such provinces serving on IASCUFO should for the time being have the status only of consultants rather than full members. This is simply to confirm what the Communion as a whole has come to regard as the acceptable limits of diversity in its practice. It does not alter what has been said earlier by the Primates’ Meeting about the nature of the moratoria: the request for restraint does not necessarily imply that the issues involved are of equal weight but recognises that they are ‘central factors placing strains on our common life’, in the words of the Primates in 2007. Particular provinces will be contacted about the outworking of this in the near future.

I am aware that other bodies have responsibilities in questions concerned with faith and order, notably the Primates’ Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Standing Committee. The latter two are governed by constitutional provisions which cannot be overturned by any one person’s decision alone, and there will have to be further consultation as to how they are affected. I shall be inviting the views of all members of the Primates’ Meeting on the handling of these matters with a view to the agenda of the next scheduled meeting in January 2011.

5.

In our dealings with other Christian communions, we do not seek to deny our diversity; but there is an obvious problem in putting forward representatives of the Communion who are consciously at odds with what the Communion has formally requested or stipulated. This does not seem fair to them or to our partners. In our dealings with each other, we need to be clear that conscientious decisions may be taken in good faith, even for what are held to be good theological or missional reasons, and yet have a cost when they move away from what is recognisable and acceptable within the Communion. Thus – to take a very different kind of example – there have been and there are Anglicans who have a strong conscientious objection to infant baptism. Their views deserve attention, respect and careful study, they should be engaged in serious dialogue – but it would be eccentric to place such people in a position where their view was implicitly acknowledged as one of a range of equally acceptable convictions, all of which could be taken as representatively Anglican.

Yet no-one should be celebrating such public recognition of divisions and everyone should be reflecting on how to rebuild relations and to move towards a more coherent Anglican identity (which does not mean an Anglican identity with no diversity, a point once again well made by the statement from the Singapore meeting). Some complain that we are condemned to endless meetings that achieve nothing. I believe that in fact we have too few meetings that allow proper mutual exploration. It may well be that such encounters need to take place in a completely different atmosphere from the official meetings of the Communion’s representative bodies, and this needs some imaginative thought and planning. Much work is already going into making this more possible.

But if we do conclude that some public marks of ‘distance’, as the Windsor Continuation Group put it, are unavoidable if our Communion bodies are not to be stripped of credibility and effectiveness, the least Christian thing we can do is to think that this absolves us from prayer and care for each other, or continuing efforts to make sense of each other.

We are praying for a new Pentecost for our Communion. That means above all a vast deepening of our capacity to receive the gift of being adopted sons and daughters of the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It means a deepened capacity to speak of Jesus Christ in the language of our context so that we are heard and the Gospel is made compelling and credible. And it also means a deepened capacity to love and nourish each other within Christ’s Body – especially to love and nourish, as well as to challenge, those whom Christ has given us as neighbours with whom we are in deep and painful dispute.

One remarkable symbol of promise for our Communion is the generous gift received by the Diocese of Jerusalem from His Majesty the King of Jordan, who has provided a site on the banks of the Jordan River, at the traditional site of Our Lord’s Baptism, for the construction of an Anglican church. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of blessing the foundation stone of this church and viewing the plans for its design. It will be a worthy witness at this historic site to the Anglican tradition, a sign of real hope for the long-suffering Christians of the region, and something around which the Communion should gather as a focus of common commitment in Christ and his Spirit. I hope that many in the Communion will give generous support to the project.

‘We have the mind of Christ’ says St Paul (I Cor. 2.16); and, as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has recently written, this means that we must have a ‘kenotic’, a self-emptying approach to each other in the Church. May the Spirit create this in us daily and lead us into that wholeness of truth which is only to be found in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Yes, it's that time again - when all is filled with love and awe, where we put down our swords and smash them into ploughshares and just celebrate that on this day, sixty-nine years ago, Bob Dylan came into the world. We'll post more later, but for now - here's Mr. Dylan with the song that won him an Oscar:

And here is his masterpiece Visions of Johanna and his most fascinating interpretation of the song during his landmark 1966 tour of England:

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom."-Bob Dylan

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Back on the road again - this time for the annual parish retreat. Got hundreds headed this way - and where is "this way?" Why, it's the great state of West Virginia!

The one thing I did discover all ready is that it's quite an adventure to be in the middle of beautiful countryside, not a soul in site for miles, and the the GPS no longer picks up the satellite.

I guess Senator Byrd is powerful (it's hard not to imagine that there is an entire city built underneath West Virginia for the U.S. Government, just in case), but not so powerful as to get the entire State of West Virginia covered. Gave new meaning to the phrase, "wilderness experience."

Did pass some amazing scenery called Seneca Rocks. Simply breathtaking!

Drove by it twice because of the darn GPS was stuck and it took many miles before I realized that the turn had been five miles away for twenty miles. But the scenery was nice.

So - yes, here in West Virginia. And of course, what other song could come to mind as one wanders through the back roads (that got thinner and thinner and thinner), but this classic.

Gosh, I still miss him!! I lost track of how many times I saw him in concert - but a special one was third row in London when I studied there in my junior year in college. He brought a bit of America over just in time.

I like this arrangement very much - this is how it felt wandering about the country roads today, especially when I found a West Virginia State Trooper sitting on the side of the highway waiting for big city speeders. He actually took the time to write out directions (complete with landmarks) for me as he sat in the front seat of his way-cool high-tech SUV. Have a feeling his GPS works just fine.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

And so the journey in the wilderness begins. The juxtaposition between the events of yesterday and the hard work that even now the Church of England is undertaking with caution and prudence - the defiant images (and they are purposely crafted) that are being sent back across the Atlantic to the Archbishop of Canterbury are simply breathtakingly grievous. Like Rhett Butler's remarks to Scarlett O'Hara at the closing scenes of Gone With the Wind, yesterday's events mark not just another dramatic occasion for the Episcopal Church to demonstrate its transition to political activism as the "new liturgy," but also presents an unwavering public demonstration that, when it comes to the relationships and bonds with brothers and sisters all over the world in the Anglican Communion, the leadership of The Episcopal Church quite frankly does not give a damn.

By the way, don't be fooled by "the silence." Lots happening, just not on the front pages or on the blogs yet. Just like when you have a house filled with children, it's not the yelling that worries you, it's the silence. Stay tuned.

The Rev Mary Glasspool will become Assistant Bishop of Los Angeles in a “grand event” taking place at a 13,500-seat arena on the Californian coast.

Her appointment is being made despite warnings from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, about the “serious questions” it will raise for the 80 million-strong Anglican Communion.

It is being viewed by traditionalists as another “provocative” move by the ultra-liberal Episcopal Church of the USA in “defiance” of pleas not to go against tradition and Scripture by ordaining homosexual bishops.

The Communion was first driven to the brink of schism over sexuality in 2003 when the Episcopal Church, the official Anglican province of the USA, consecrated the first openly homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson.

Since then hundreds of orthodox American clergy and congregations have joined other provinces or formed breakaway movements, triggering bitter legal battles over the ownership of church property.
There have been repeated official calls for both sides to desist from further actions that would worsen the divide, but last year the Episcopal Church vowed to continue ordaining homosexual clergy despite a personal plea from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dr Williams said last year that the proposed consecration of Miss Glasspool “raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion but for the Communion as a whole”.

However she will be made an Assistant Bishop on Saturday afternoon at the Long Beach Arena, by the Most Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

The “grand event in the life of the Diocese of Los Angeles” will feature “music and dance highlighting the cultural diversity of our diocesan community” while lay guests have been told to wear “Sunday Best / festive native dress”.

Miss Glasspool, formerly a Canon in the Diocese of Maryland who has been with her female partner since 1988, will become the first woman bishop in Los Angeles along with the Rev Diane Bruce.
Earlier this week evangelical groups in the Church of Ireland said in a statement: “The elevation to senior church leadership of a person whose lifestyle is contrary to the will of God revealed in Scripture is both wrong and disappointing.”

They said the “provocative step” shows a “deliberate disregard” for rest of the Anglican Communion and constitutes a “clear rejection” of calls for restraint made by official bodies in recent years.
A communiqué issued by the Global South – Anglican provinces in the developing world – has called on the Episcopal Church to express “genuine repentance” for its “defiance” in the consecration.

The Episcopal Church in the US is set to go ahead with the controversial ordination of an openly lesbian bishop.

Saturday's ordination comes despite warnings from the Archbishop of Canterbury that it will deepen an already bitter dispute on sexuality.

Canon Mary Glasspool, 56, will become an assistant bishop in Los Angeles, the first openly gay US bishop since Gene Robinson seven years ago.

Since then the Anglican Communion has been on course for a permanent split.

The election of Mary Glasspool - who has been with her partner Becki for 22 years - represented a snub by the liberal Episcopal Church to other Anglican Churches around the world.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had urged the American Church not to proceed with the ordination, warning that it would further alienate traditionalists who believe active homosexuality to be a sin.

It is likely to accelerate the gradual marginalisation of the Episcopal Church within a two-tier Communion and increase tensions between Anglicans elsewhere.

The Communion has never recovered from the crisis prompted by the election in New Hampshire of Gene Robinson as its first openly gay bishop in November 2003.

The Episcopal Church at first agreed to suspend the creation of gay bishops but reversed that decision last July.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

For 400 years the library of the archbishops of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace has kept its archives largely hidden, through riots, upheavals, an execution and the Blitz. But nextweek the public will be allowed through the great doors of the palace's medieval Moreton's Tower, then invited to turn left past the fig tree planted by Cardinal Pole in 1555 and enter the palace's great hall, where Thomas More refused to submit to Henry VIII, to see for the first time an extraordinary exhibition of its treasures.

The several dozen primates since archbishop Richard Bancroft bequeathed his collection of 6,000 books and manuscripts in 1610 have left quite a horde – and not just of Bibles. The collection shows how intimately entwined with matters of state, as well as the highly personal, archbishops have been.

In the exhibition there are the embroidered leather gloves worn by Charles I on the scaffold at his execution, a book of hours found in the abandoned tent of Richard III after the battle of Bosworth, the angry scribbles of James I in the margins of a book pleading for religious toleration, and the earliest printed book known to have reached England, purchased by William Caxton's patron, the Bishop of Lincoln, in Bruges in 1467.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Richard Dawkins interviews the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams - a fascinating interview on creation, miracles (yes, Rowan believes in the miracles!), the New Testament texts, and faith. A must watch!

Saturday, May 01, 2010

BB NOTE: Bishop John W. Howe of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida writes of his experience at the Singapore meeting of the Global South Encounter. We learn that the majority of those gathered in agreement to "suspend all communication both verbal and sacramental with both TEC and the ACC - their Primates, bishops and clergy until such time as they reverse their theological innovations, and show a commitment to abide by the decisions of the Lambeth Conference." Here's more:

Third Day

We really "hit the ground running" today, beginning with the first of what promise to be three wonderful Bible Studies from Isaiah led by the Assistant Bishop of Singapore, Rennis Ponniah. He was introduced by the former Bishop (and Archbishop) Young Ping Chung, who was his chief consecrator. +Young Ping said that when Singaporeans mention "Bishop Ponniah" not everyone knows who they are talking about, but when someone mentions "Bible Teacher Ponniah" everyone knows exactly who they are talking about. Today he explored Isaiah's Vision and Call (which I have preached on dozens of times - and he mentioned several things neither I nor anyone else I spoke to about it had ever noticed.) More than head knowledge, we knew we were in the presence of the Lord.

The morning addresses were on the nature of Covenant, by Archbishop John Chew (not the Anglican Covenant, but Covenant as we encounter it in Scripture - and specifically, in Isaiah), followed by a discussion of the "structure" and calling of the Global South fellowship within the Anglican Communion, this by Archbishops Mouneer (the Middle East) and Emanuel Kolini (Rwanda). Kolini was devastating in his reprisal of the efforts of the GS Primates to restore TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada to compliance with the "mind of the Communion" regarding human sexuality over the past decade and a half and especially since 2003.

Meeting after meeting, resolution after resolution, communique after communique...at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with no positive results. He said, "we do not need another resolution from this gathering, we need to act in accordance with what we know the Lord has said to us." I am not at all clear about what that means, but I have the sense that there is a weariness on his part and many of the other GS leaders, in waiting for decisive action by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

(I mentioned above that the ABC sent a video greeting, which we viewed at the close of the morning session. For the first time in my memory, there was no applause when he finished.) This afternoon I was included (as the "leader" of the Communion Partner "deputation" - consisting of myself and +Mark Lawrence.) in a visit by all the Primates to the Presidential Palace for high tea with the President of Singapore. I would guess the property was about the size of the White House property in DC.

The Palace is gorgeous, very colonial in style, and surrounded by a private golf course. (I thought about asking the Diocese to consider acquiring something like it as a retirement residence for the Bishop, but that might be misunderstood by some...) +Peter Ackinola, who has now retired as Archbishop of Nigeria, and who will be stepping down as Chairman of the Global South Steering Committee at the end of this week, said to the President, "We represent about 70% of the world's Anglicans; I might say that we represent the face of the 'new Anglicanism.'"

Interesting comment. About 2/3 of the Primates are black or brown. Most are relatively young, and most come from the world's "two-thirds nations." Following dinner the Primates met together and invited all of the "Western Associates" (ACNA, the CP Bishops, Bishops from Australia and New Zealand) to meet with them. The conversation focused almost entirely on ACNA, CP, and TEC.

I think tonight's meeting may have been the principal reason I am here. There is (or at least was) much confusion among the GS Primates as to why there are two different groups from North America, both claiming to be orthodox Anglicans (ACNA and CP). While some understood clearly that CP is committed to remaining orthodox and remaining Anglican, they question why ACNA has felt it necessary to leave and start something new. Others, however (and I would guess perhaps a 2/3 majority or more) question why and how we who are part of CP can remain in TEC.

And for them the question was: "if we have declared 'impaired' or 'broken' communion with TEC, how can we be 'communion partners' with the Communion Partners?" +Bob Duncan and I did most of the talking, and I think we were both respectful and supportive of each others' positions. I said that over the past many years we have walked a great distance together, beginning with a shared commitment to remain orthodox within TEC.

But finally the time came when many who had shared that commitment within the Anglican Communion Network determined that they could NOT remain part of TEC any longer. Those who left have (for the most part) become ACNA. But the Communion Partners continue to hold the original commitment, and we have not been told by TEC to do that which we cannot, or been forbidden to do what we must. I described my (and our) commitment to "be there" for those who wish to remain part of TEC, but equally to "be there" for those who believe they must leave.

I think that by the end of the evening there was pretty general agreement that Archbishop Ian Ernest (of the Province of the Indian Ocean) got it right when he wrote to the ABC on April 12: "I feel constrained by my conscience to uphold my duty as shepherd of the flock and to forthwith suspend all communication both verbal and sacramental with both TEC and the ACC - their Primates, bishops and clergy until such time as they reverse their theological innovations, and show a commitment to abide by the decisions of the Lambeth Conference.

This suspension of communion would not include those bishops and clergy who have distanced themselves from the direction of TEC (such as the Communion Partners group)." [emphasis added] They asked me to outline the CP "strategy," and I mentioned five points:

1) Dioceses accept/adopt the Covenant,
2) Build bridges to CP parishes in non-covenanting dioceses,
3) Differentiate ourselves from the go-slow moves of 815,
4) Differentiate ourselves especially from 815's professed understanding of our polity, [We believe, for instance, that +KJS is dead wrong in her contention that the only body that can adopt the Covenant is the General Convention. The truth is that unless GC were to make acceptance of the Covenant a matter of our canons or constitution - which it manifestly will not. - it can only pass resolutions that are "recommendatory," and not binding. We believe that it is not only legitimate for dioceses to adopt the Covenant; we believe it is actually ONLY dioceses that have the authority to do so], and
5) Seek as strong a partnership with the Global South as is possible. All of this seemed to be to be very well received, PTL.

BB NOTE: Surprising - but very happy news - that Dan Hertzog, who left the Episcopal Church to join the Roman Catholic Church and renounced his orders, has decided to return the Anglican fold and has been asked to return as a bishop and assist in his former diocese, the Diocese of Albany now under the steady leadership of Bishop Bill Love. Good news for the Communion Partners and for the wonderful people of the Diocese of Albany (hey Bruce Mason!).

A major leader and voice returns to help bring The Episcopal Church back to its roots and to be voice for TEC compliance with Lambeth 1.10. Fascinating that the 815 gang are rejoicing - not sure if they completely grasp what this means for the orthodox in TEC - and for fellow bishops and comrades in the trenches, John Howe and Mark Lawrence and others. Bill Love gets it though!!

As most of you are aware, shortly after his retirement as the Eighth Bishop of Albany, Bishop Herzog resigned his Holy Orders. In so doing, he made one of the most difficult decisions of his life, one that he has struggled with these past three years. He did so in obedience to his understanding of what he believed the Lord was calling him to do at the time in preparation for returning to the Roman Catholic Church, which was the Church of his youth.

For the past three years, Bishop Dan and I have maintained our friendship and have talked on several occasions about his decision to return to the Catholic Church. After much thought and prayer he has discovered that his heart is still very much with the people and Diocese of Albany whom he truly loves and committed his entire 36 years of ordained ministry serving. Earlier this Spring, Bishop Dan asked if I would be open to him returning to an active ordained ministry as a priest in the Diocese of Albany. I asked him; if possible, would he consider coming back not only as a priest, but as a bishop in order to assist me in ministering to the Diocese.

On Maundy Thursday, Bishop Dan and I went to New York to meet with the Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev’d Katherine Jefferts Shori. Bishop Dan rescinded his renunciation and the Presiding Bishop with the advice and consent of her Advisory Council, accepted and restored Bishop Herzog effective April 28, 2010.

Earlier today, while meeting with the priests of the Diocese, during the Annual Priest Retreat, I announced that Bishop Daniel Herzog has been fully restored to the Ordained Ministry of this Church, with the attendant obligations of Ministerial office, and endowed with the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority as a Minister of God’s Word and Sacraments in this Church conferred on him in his Ordinations. I invited Bishop Dan to celebrate the closing Eucharist at the retreat.

Though he has never really been absent from our common life, I invite you to join me in formally welcoming Bishop Dan and Carol back to the full communion of the diocese and the wider church. During the past three years, they have continued to support the work of the diocese and to participate in a non-ordained capacity. His restored role will be of help in carrying out the work of the Church, and I will be asking him to assist in this Diocese under my direction as is true of any retired bishop. Similarly, Bishop David Ball as been assisting me in various ways these past three years and by the grace of God will continue to do so. I am very appreciative to Bishop Ball a nd now Bishop Herzog for their willingness to join me in ministering to the people of the Diocese of Albany.

All baptized Christians, both laity and clergy, have a share in the apostolic mission the Lord holds out for the Church and I am delighted that Bishop Dan and Carol can officially take their place among us again in the Diocese of Albany. I ask your prayers for all who labor for Christ and his kingdom across these nineteen counties.

Faithfully Yours in Christ,
+Bill

Bishop Hertzog responds:

I want to extend my deep appreciation to Bishop Love and to Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori for their kindness and pastoral solicitude. Carol and I are grateful for the continuing opportunity to serve our Lord and His church in the Diocese of Albany. My only plan is to assist in any way Bishop Bill directs. We are honored to resume a fuller place among the clergy and laity of the diocese.

BB NOTE: I first met Dan Hertzog years ago when he and I were both Regional Alpha Advisors (ARA) with Alpha North America. He came to a gathering I organized for ARA's at Truro and he was such an encouragement. In fact, the man I had assigned to pick him up from the airport was so inspired by Bishop Hertzog that he decided to pursue Holy Orders and is today ordained and serving in a diocese in Texas. Please read more about at SF.

UPDATE: In fact folks have forgotten, here is Bishop Love's press conference with Bishop Peter Beckwith of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield from General Convention last summer: